It’s garden question-and-answer time again! You may e-mail me
questions at ga*******@*ps.net. Or you can mail me questions in
care of this newspaper. For a faster, personal response, please
include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
It’s garden question-and-answer time again! You may e-mail me questions at ga*******@*ps.net. Or you can mail me questions in care of this newspaper. For a faster, personal response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Q: My husband has sprayed our peach and nectarine trees with sulfur to prevent peach leaf curl. But he says we don’t need to spray our apple, pear and cherry trees. I think we do. Who’s right? – C.V., Gilroy
A: Ah, just what I love – getting into the middle of a husband-wife “debate.” Actually, you are both correct. Your husband is correct in that peach and nectarines are the only fruit trees that need to be sprayed to prevent peach leaf curl.
On the other hand, you are correct in that all other fruit trees should be sprayed with a simple dormant spray to kill overwintering insects. We’re talking about two different types of sprays: one for peaches and nectarines, and the other for everything from apple, pear and cherry trees to roses.
Q: We have city trees that are ginkgos, and they are starting to produce “fruit,” which stinks something awful. Short of cutting the tree down, is there anything we can put, say in the root system, to make them stop producing? – S.B., Gilroy
A: Unfortunately, your timing is not good. There are commercial fruit-inhibiting products that can be sprayed on trees to prevent fruiting. However, these sprays must be applied just as the tree is starting to blossom their “fruit.” Most of the time these sprays should be applied in February and March. However, our unusually warm weather in early February prompted many trees to blossom early this year. That’s why your ginkgo has already started to fruit.
One of the most popular fruit-inhibiting sprays is called “Olive Stop.” It is so-named to prevent messy olive trees from fruiting. Such products can also successfully be used on liquidambar trees to prevent those messy seed pods from forming.
Q: I enjoyed your column about poinsettias. I wanted to relate a story about how 20 years ago I planted poinsettias on the south side of my house. I did not know if they would thrive. I have had poinsettias bloom there ever since. The blooms are not large; nevertheless, they are blooming. – D.K., Gilroy
A: You certainly have a green thumb! For those of you who missed my earlier column about poinsettias, I explained that it is very difficult to get poinsettias to re-bloom the following year. Basically, commercial growers put poinsettias through an elaborate darkness regimen where they need complete darkness for 18 hours a day, starting in the fall, in order to bloom for the holidays. Plus, there’s the fact that most poinsettias will die during our frosty nights. This letter proves there are exceptions to everything.
